How to convert a personalised suit jacket pattern into an overcoat pattern?

[KTuakli]

Hello,

I'm asking partly out of personal interest and partly out of the curiosity of a student.

In essence, how do you take a pattern for a suit coat that has already had all of the various unique features of a person's morphology incorporated, and transfer it into a pattern for an overcoat? Where do you need to add extra ease to accommodate the garments underneath? Are there any special considerations for a heavier cloth?

I have a rather unusual figure (triangular back with a 53 inch chest and a 37 inch waist, which is also unusually high, an upright posture with a prominent chest and arms that are disproportionately long), and despite searching high and low I have not found a drafting system that effectively provides me with a pattern that comes close to fitting. If I can take a suit jacket pattern that has already been altered to arrive at something passable, it would be very helpful to be able to use that as a basis from which to create a pattern for an overcoat, rather than having to tackle it again from scratch.

This question may have already been asked, in which case I apologise. Please do point me to any existing material if that is the case. Either way, thank you very much for your help.

[Steelmillal]

Tear the coat that fits apart, make patterns from the pieces for a master paper pattern, make a trial jacket to verify, then add ease to grade up and repeat the process for the overcoat. Disproportionate means no formula, but trial and error and time. Bespoke$


OR, even better, you can be the ginnypig for the bright young things found here to try out their skills, hint, hint, young people..

[KTuakli]

Hi @Steelmillal. Thanks for answering, I really appreciate you taking the time to respond.

Sorry if I wasn't especially clear. My question relates specifically to the part about adding the ease to grade up the master pattern made after tearing apart the suit jacket. Where do you need to focus on adding ease? Side seam? Shoulder seam? Centre front? Do you have to adjust any darts? How much ease needs adding?

Is there a standard approach, or do you basically add inlay everywhere, baste it together, and do a fitting?

Thanks again

[Gerry]

I've never made an overcoat, but the advice I've seen in cutting books is fairly intuitive: increase the shoulder length a bit (which in turn creates more width across the shoulders and upper chest); make the neck slightly larger; deepen the armscye a bit. Allow inlay on the seams and sort out ease in a fitting.

Hopefully the more experienced here will answer your question in detail.

[KTuakli]

Hi @Gerry,

Thanks for adding in, much appreciated. That all makes a lot of sense. You mention some cutting books. Are there any in particular that you are referring to/recommend?

Thanks again.

[Gerry]

I've read more cutting books than is healthy, so honestly couldn't tell you where I acquired the info I posted.

This same question came up on Rory Duffy's forum. You could rent lesson 2, "Drafting the Pattern", from his Vimeo coat-making course:

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/thehtasbwaistcoat

... then follow the advice given in this thread:

https://www.handcrafttailor.com/forum/the-men-s-coat/adapting-the-coat-pattern-for-a-simple-topcoat-pattern

IIR, he uses head units to create a block. Not a system I've ever used so can't comment on its accuracy. It should get you up and running though.

EDIT. The draft he uses is here:

https://www.handcrafttailor.com/notes-for-video-series

[Schneiderfrei]

I haven't ad the time to do so recently, but I would encourage you to look for the relevant pages in the old Cutter and Tailor forum, on the Internet Archive.  There are certainly more than one post on this topic.


This collection was posted by Sator - 05 December 2009 - 10:50 AM

[peterle]

There ist a table in " der Zuschnitt in der Herrenschneiderei" XXVII by Mueller. It shows how much cm you have to add to the calculated measurements of a lounge coat to get an overcoat:





Paletot=waisted overcoat, Ulster= staight cut overcoat, Pelzfutter= fur lining, light, medium and heavy.

[Schneiderfrei]

Thank you peterle, I didn't have a copy of that. I knew it had to be there.

[KTuakli]

Thank you everyone for your replies. I really appreciate you taking the time to point me in the right direction. It is really fantastic how helpful this community is to newcomers like myself. One day I hope to know enough to be able to pay it forward.

Thanks again

[peterle]

Found this in a different thread:

[Steelmillal]

https://web.archive.org/web/20150910103935/http://www.cutterandtailor.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=2923

It's worth the read. Does anyone still have that xls. draft app someone was trying to peddle a while back? I recall some liked it. If KTuakli has body measurements, it would be worth a go and to see what it presents for disproportionate, maybe.